Hallmark Financial Services Stock Upgraded (HALL)

Editor's Note: TheStreet ratings do not represent the views of TheStreet's staff or its contributors. Ratings are established by computer based on metrics for performance (which includes growth, stock performance, efficiency and valuation) and risk (volatility and solvency). Companies with poor cash flow or high debt levels tend to earn lower ratings in our model.

NEW YORK ( TheStreet) -- Hallmark Financial Services (Nasdaq: HALL) has been upgraded by TheStreet Ratings from hold to buy. The company's strengths can be seen in multiple areas, such as its compelling growth in net income, revenue growth, largely solid financial position with reasonable debt levels by most measures, attractive valuation levels and good cash flow from operations. We feel these strengths outweigh the fact that the company has had lackluster performance in the stock itself.

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Highlights from the ratings report include:

The net income growth from the same quarter one year ago has significantly exceeded that of the S&P 500 and the Insurance industry. The net income increased by 3382.7% when compared to the same quarter one year prior, rising from $0.10 million to $3.41 million.

HALL's revenue growth trails the industry average of 21.6%. Since the same quarter one year prior, revenues slightly increased by 2.4%. Growth in the company's revenue appears to have helped boost the earnings per share.

HALL's debt-to-equity ratio is very low at 0.27 and is currently below that of the industry average, implying that there has been very successful management of debt levels.

Net operating cash flow has significantly increased by 173.03% to $10.97 million when compared to the same quarter last year. In addition, HALLMARK FINANCIAL SERVICES has also vastly surpassed the industry average cash flow growth rate of 10.86%.

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Hallmark Financial Services, Inc., an insurance holding company, engages in marketing, distributing, underwriting, and servicing property/casualty insurance products for businesses and individuals in the United States. The company has a P/E ratio of 70.5, above the S&P 500 P/E ratio of 17.7. Hallmark Financial Services has a market cap of $149.5 million and is part of the financial sector and insurance industry. Shares are up 11% year to date as of the close of trading on Friday.

Editor's Note: TheStreet ratings do not represent the views of TheStreet's staff or its contributors. Ratings are established by computer based on metrics for performance (which includes growth, stock performance, efficiency and valuation) and risk (volatility and solvency). Companies with poor cash flow or high debt levels tend to earn lower ratings in our model.